Extreme Heat and Pregnancy Complications

Professor Caitlin Wyrwoll (University of Western Australia)

Professor Caitlin Wyrwoll is the Lead Investigator on the Extreme Heat and Pregnancy Complications project. She currently holds a Stan Perron People Fellowship and is a research theme leader in the NHMRC Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) Network. Prof Wyrwoll is an Associate of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and serves on the Society for Reproductive Biology Council and the executive committee of the Australian and New Zealand Placental Associations. She is Senior Editor for the Journal of Endocrinology and Journal of Molecular Endocrinology.

University of Western Australia Profile

Associate Professor Supriya Mathew (Menzies School of Health Research)

Associate Professor Supriya Mathew is an Aim 1 co-lead, currently leading and overseeing the Menzies climate change research programs, exploring the impacts of heat on health in Northern and central Australia and devising innovative ways to reduce the impacts. She is a multi-disciplinary researcher, specialising in mixed methods research. Previously, she lead the Air in Alice project to crowdsource air quality and temperature data in Alice Springs to improve environmental health surveillance.

Menzies School of Health Research Profile

Professor Christine Phillips (Australian National University)

Professor Christine Phillips is an Aim 1 co-lead, and is a general practitioner and health services researcher at ANU. She leads the Social Foundations of Medicine group at the School of Medicine and Psychology, where she teaches social sciences and medicine in the medical school, and in the Master of Culture Health and Medicine program. Professor Phillips is the Medical Director of Companion House Medical Service, and has been an Advisor for UNHCR, the World Health Organisation, the Migration Council of Australia, and state and federal departments of health and human services.

Australian National University Profile

Associate Professor Brad Farrant (University of Western Australia)

Associate Professor Brad Farrant is the Communities of Practice lead, and a researcher at The Kids Research Institue and the UWA Centre for Child Health Research. Brad’s research focuses on the importance of early childhood development and he is particularly interested in how to connect this to strengths of Aboriginal people and culture. Coming from the perspective of Developmental Psychology Brad is also interested in how broader ecological factors like biodiversity loss, population growth, peak water and climate change will interact to affect children’s development now and in the future.

Kids Research Institute Profiley Profile

Professor Kerrie Mengersen (Queensland University of Technology)

Professor Kerrie Mengersen is an Aim 2 co-lead, providing expertise in data visualisation for translation. She is the Director of the QUT Centre for Data Science and an Associate Member in the Department of Statistics at the University of Oxford, UK. Professor Mengersen’s research focuses on using and developing new statistical and computational methods that can help to solve complex problems in the real world.

Queensland University of Technology Profile

Dr Erin Kelty (University of Western Australia)

Dr Erin Kelty is an Aim 2 co-lead, providing expertise in perinatal epidemiology, and is a Research Fellow and NHMRC Emerging Leader at the School of Population and Global Health. She is highly experienced in the use and analysis of linked health data and is involved in research examining the associations between prenatal exposure to environmental and pharmacological factors during pregnancy and maternal, neonatal and child health, as well as medication safety, substance use disorders, and veterinary medicine.

University of Western Australia Profile

Associate Professor Matt Payne (University of Western Australia)

Matt is a Principal Research Fellow within the Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Western Australia, and head of the Clinical Perinatal Research Laboratories. He is a molecular microbiologist whose research is focused on the role of the microbiome in health and disease throughout pregnancy and early life. He has particular interests in developing diagnostic tests based on microbial biomarkers for disease prediction and both antimicrobial and probiotic intervention strategies to reduce disease risk.

University of Western Australia Profile

Professor Jane Pillow (University of Western Australia)

Professor Jane Pillow is the Aim 3 animal studies lead, providing expertise in invasive physiological measures in sheep pregnancy as a clinical academic neonatologist. She is the CIA and Co-Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence to improve the immediate and long-term outcomes of preterm infants, and the Founding Director of the UWA Preclinical Intensive Care Research Unit (PICRU). 

University of Western Australia Profile

Dr Aunty Mara West (Yamatji Elder and Operations Manager of the Kulunga Aboriginal Unit at The Kids )

Dr Aunty Mara West is a Yamatji woman who is Chair of the Healthy Homelands Hub, Coolamon Centre, Ngangk Yira Institute, Murdoch University, and Chair of the HEAL (Healthy Environment and Lives) Network WA Aboriginal Reference Group. In both the public and private sectors, Dr West has championed the social, political, and economic position of Aboriginal peoples in Australian society and is a leader in Aboriginal affairs.

Amina Rhaman (University of Western Australia)

University of Western Australia Profile

Amina’s PhD spans across both the Environmental Epidemiology research (Aim 2) and Biological Factors (Aim 3).

Hayley Powell (University of Western Australia)

University of Western Australia Profile

Hayley’s PhD investigates the Biological Factors (Aim 3) involved in heat exposure during late pregnancy.  Prior to starting her PhD, Hayley worked as a research assistant with Jane Pillow. 

Carolyn Sam (University of Western Australia)

University of Western Australia Profile

Carolyn’s PhD investigates the role of primary healthcare providers in delivering heat-related advice in Australia, with a focus on advancing healthcare equity among at-risk, priority populations.

Dr Dayna Zimmerman (University of Western Australia)

University of Western Australia Profile

Dayna is investigating the Biological Factors (Aim 3) involved in heat exposure during late pregnancy. Prior to moving to Western Australia to work on the EHPC study, Dayna was undertaking her PhD studies at the University of Queensland, investigating the effects of metformin treatment for diabetes during pregnancy.

Dayna is investigating the Biological Factors (Aim 3) involved in heat exposure during late pregnancy. Prior to moving to Western Australia to work on the EHPC study, Dayna was undertaking her PhD studies at the University of Queensland, investigating the effects of metformin treatment for diabetes during pregnancy.

Dr Ebony Quintrell (University of Western Australia)

University of Western Australia Profile

Ebony is an epidemiologist and recently completed her PhD at the University of Western Australia, where she studied alcohol use disorder and alcohol withdrawal in pregnancy, with particular attention to the use and safety of pharmacological treatments.